Catching Up After a Crazy Week and a Half

Good evening Road Warrior Nation. What a beautiful time of year it is here in South Carolina. The fall has always been my favorite season but in Greenville it's only gotten better. Sunny and in the 70s just about every day and perfect sleeping weather at night is certainly one way to get used to living in a new part of the country. For those of you who are new to this space I haven't lived outside of the state of Pennsylvania until May of this year when I moved to the Upstate. What makes it even better is that hockey season is literally right on top of us. Only two more days, now, until opening night at the BI-LO Center. I'll have more on that in just a bit.

Things have been far from quiet on the Road Warriors front, though, as final preparations are being made for Thursday. Part of the reason that it's been a while since I've checked in is that training camp took up an insane amount of my time. It's not just the players who work hard during camp, but the staff gets put through the ringer quite a bit too. Especially since it's the first go-around for many of us with the Road Warriors. There were many meetings and late nights at the office as we prepared for the preseason game against South Carolina at the BI-LO Center last Tuesday. And what a game it turned out to be as the Road Warriors closed out preseason action. A thrilling 3-2 overtime win, two fights, and a crowd that was as enthusiastic as many regular season crowds are. All I can say is kudos to you Road Warriors fans for bringing such great emotion to the game that night. I can't wait to see how crazy you all go on Thursday. With the win Greenville finished the preseason 1-2-0. Everyone knows the games mean nothing in the preseason but I think the games gave us some nice insight into this season's team.

The first two games were played in Florida against the Everblades on October 8 and 9. These games were the toughest for Greenville because they came just three and four days, respectively, after training camp had opened. Coach Stork said some of the players didn't even know each others' names out on the ice because they'd been together for so few days. Not to mention they had to bus 12 hours to get to Estero. The Road Warriors ultimately lost each game, 6-5 and 4-2. From watching the games, though, here's what I came away with:

• Matt Schepke is a solid offensive player. Schepke played only the first game in Florida and came away with a pair of goals. His second one impressed me most as he blasted home a slap shot from just inside the blue line. With a shot like that he might afford Stork the luxury of getting creative and using a forward at the point on the power play.
• Sound systems are in place. While allowing 10 goals in two games won't support my theory here, I think the Road Warriors showed that they can be a good defensive club. If you dig a bit deeper you find that Greenville out-shot Florida by an average of 36 to 27 shots over the two games. From what I saw many of Florida's goals came off of turnovers and/or pin point plays and shots. If the Road Warriors consistently keep opponents' shots low and limit turnovers they will be a very good defensive club.
• The Road Warriors are tenacious. Greenville impressed me with its ability to not pack it in during the two Florida games, especially on Saturday. When the 'Blades jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second I figured the Road Warriors would pack it in and play conservatively the rest of the way out. Instead they scored late in the second to claw within three, and proceeded to out-shoot Florida 17-4 in the third while adding another goal. Fairly impressive given the circumstances.

The cherry on top of Greenville's preseason hockey sundae was the overtime win against in-state rival South Carolina a week ago. The Road Warriors scored first, saw South Carolina battle back to tie the game and force OT thanks to a pair of power play goals, and eventually notched a dramatic game winner from Brendan Connolly. Here are some photos from the game courtesy of team photographer Billy Crowe.

As fun as the preseason game was, though, it was only a small preview of what's in store for opening night. But I'm not going to let you on to what we've got planned. To find out, you're going to have to come and see it for yourself in person. What I will offer, though, is a preview of the match up between the Road Warriors and Everblades.

Greenville Roster: (0-0-0)

Florida Roster: (1-1-0)

Upon first look I see to factors that favor the Everblades: 1) They have played two regular season games already. 2) There are eight players on the team who played together on Florida last season. The major factor I see working in the Road Warriors' favor is that the game is at home. A huge crowd should really energize the young Road Warriors' team and help it to a fast start. Florida will also have to travel 12 hours to arrive in Greenville, and also has never played in the building before. The Road Warriors now have quite a few hours of practice, and one game, under their collective belt at the BI-LO Center and are learning the ins and outs of the rink.

The coaching match up in this game is also intriguing to me. Both Greenville's Dean Stork and Florida's Greg Poss will be making their ECHL coaching debuts. Stork became a bench boss this summer after serving as Chuck Weber's assistant for the previous four seasons with the Cincinnati Cyclones. Poss, meanwhile, has been a head coach before, although in Germany and never in a North American pro league. Stork helped Cincinnati to Kelly Cup championships in two of the last three seasons, and Poss led Mannheim to a German Elite League title in 2007. The styles of games they coach are quite opposite as Stork likes to employ a defensively centered concept, while Road Warriors fans can expect Poss' Everblades to be more freewheeling. With both teams looking to gel and find their identity early in the season I think the defensive style could have an advantage.

One ever-present factor in the ECHL that can affect a game before it even begins is the transaction wire. And we're certainly seeing that with the Road Warriors. Late last week Greenville traded for a very skilled winger, Anton Kharin, who had signed on with the Kalamazoo Wings for this season. Prior to a season-ending knee injury last October Kharin had been tearing up the ECHL with his mix of speed and skill. In seven games Kharin managed two goals (one game winner), seven assists, and three multi-point efforts. He has the potential to be a huge spark to Greenville's offense. On the flip side, the Road Warriors have lost what appeared to be their number-one goalie heading into the season. Dov Grumet-Morris was signed to a professional tryout agreement (PTO) by the Hartford Wolf Pack today. The contract is good for 25 games, but Grumet-Morris can be released from it at any time. Right now it's anyone's guess how long he could be up in the AHL, and that means rookie Nic Riopel will be the man in net for Greenville. That shouldn't worry anyone, though, as Riopel was the top goalie, and player of the year, in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League two seasons ago and helped his team win the QMJHL title last season. Expect local goalie David Erickson to serve as the emergency back up in Grumet-Morris' absence.

Everyone have all of that? Good. I won't say anything else except get to the BI-LO Center Box Office to pick up your tickets for the home opener and join us for what's going to be a heck of a party on Thursday night!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Hockey Season!

As I write this we are exactly two weeks away from the puck dropping on the first season of Greenville Road Warriors hockey. While it's an exciting time for us who follow and cover the team, it's an extremely busy time for the players and coaching staff. Training camp officially opened yesterday with 23 Road Warriors taking to the ice. It was the first time that Head Coach Dean Stork and Assistant Coach Jason Spence were able to work with their team on the ice and prepare it for the season. As if they weren't crunched for time enough with the home opener two weeks away, they have two preseason games this weekend in Estero, Florida against the Everblades. For the players, they have to shake off all of the traveling they had to do to arrive in Greenville, adjust to new surroundings and teammates, and learn Coach Stork's new systems. They are faced with that while trying to play well enough to earn a spot on the team. For as much as I used to dream about being a pro athlete, I'm certainly glad I don't have to go through that process.

Enough of all that, though, let's take a look at what went down yesterday at the first day of camp. Due to the number of players in town there was only one group of players that skated one morning session. Originally there were to be two groups and two sessions. Here's how the forwards were grouped on lines:

Green - Matt Schepke, Connor Shields, Justin Bowers

Red - Andrew Carroll, Brendan Connolly, Mark Voakes

Gray - Tyler Ruegsegger, Sean Berkstresser, Igor Gongalsky

Yellow - David Strathman, Peter MacDougall, Neil Graham

Strathman's natural position is defense but he will be filling in as a forward until more bodies arrive in Greenville to fill out the roster. The defensemen wore white and that group was comprised of:

Brad Cole, Wes Cunningham, Patrick Cusack, Thomas Dignard, T.J. Reynolds, Dan Ringwald, and Steve Ward.

Dov Grumet-Morris, Nic Riopel, and David Erickson handled the goaltending duties. Grumet-Morris wore the all black pads, Riopel sported the Flyer-themed black, orange, and whites, while Erickson had the blue and silver gear on. Erickson is a local from Greer, SC who is in camp on a tryout agreement.

I had a chance to talk with Coach Stork last evening about the first practice and he was overall pleased with the way it went. There wasn't a ton of player evaluation done yesterday, though. That practice's, as well as today's, primary goal was to begin teaching everyone Dean's systems. The real evaluation will go down Friday and Saturday during the games against Florida. I'll be particularly interested to find out how the defensemen perform. There are already eight defensemen in training camp and with the arrival of Sam Klassen, Trevor Glass, and Blake Parlett (all defensemen) from Hartford the decision on who to keep has become more complicated.

For those who were wondering, I did not make the trip with the team to Florida so if you want to catch a broadcast of the game it will have to be the Everblades' broadcast. You can access that by clicking the B2 Networks link on the 'Blades' home page. You can also go to www.echl.com to track the game's scoring/statistics.

I know with yesterday's practice taking place at 10:00 a.m. many of you weren't able to make it down and see the team in person. No need to fret! With the team's trusty Flip Cam (what a great little invention by the way) I was able to capture some footage to share with Road Warriors Nation. Check it out:

There are a few more videos that you can view by checking out our YouTube channel. I'm working on putting up video from Coach Stork's and T.J. Reynolds' media scrums but those are huge files and are taking a while to upload. Check back tomorrow for that update.

Only five more days until the Road Warriors take to the BI-LO Center ice against South Carolina in preseason action. Tickets are just $6 for that game so get them while you can and join us for a great night. I'll be back on Sunday with thoughts and recaps from the games at Florida this weekend.

***UPDATE***

Here's T.J. Reynolds' media scrum from Oct. 6. I was a little ways away from the front and the mic on the flip cam didn't capture great sound. You'll probably have to turn the volume on the computer up a bit.